bettyboopfandomcom-20200215-history
Gertrude Saunders
This article is about Gertrude Saunders. See Baby Esther Jones for the Child Wonder. Gertrude C. Saunders (born March 25, 1903 - April 1991) was a singer, actress, dancer and producer of musicals and vaudeville shows. Her most notable role was the original star of the groundbreaking production of Shuffle Along. Gertrude Saunders was born in Asheville, North Carolina. As a teenager, in her senior year at Benedict College in Columbia, South Carolina, she left the school to go on tour with vaudeville and stage performer, Billy King. She joined the Billy King Stock Co., which at the time was in residence at the Grand Theater in Chicago and remained there for several years. While with Billy King, her performances turned several of his songs into hits including, "Wait Til the Cows Come Home" from the show The Board of Education (1918), "Little Lump of Sugar" from The Heart Breakers (1918), "Hot Dog" from They're Off (1919), and "Rose of Washington Square" from Town Top-Piks (1920). Other shows she performed in include The Undertaker’s Daughter, The Face at the Window, and Raiding a Cabaret (all 1917), At the Beach and In the Draft (both 1918) and Over the Top and Exploits in Africa (both 1919). Over the Top was a significant work because it "dramatized the state of African Americans at the time of the Paris Peace Conference" and was one of the first well-known efforts to stage serious theatrical and musical revues. After Florence Mills replaced Saunders as the lead in Shuffle Along, she worked in revues throughout the 1920s and 1930s, including one financed by Bessie Smith’s husband, Jack Gee in 1929, which led to a fight with Smith. In 1931, Saunders experienced a nervous breakdown and returned to her home in Ashville, North Carolina, to recover. She returned to performing in the vaudeville Keith circuit as well as other White circuits, she also co-produced her own show, Midnight Steppers in 1939. She was also featured in revues such as Red Hot Mama and several films, including The Toy Wife (1938), Big Timers (1945) and Sepia Children (1947), which were all marketed toward Black audiences. Saunders is infamously known for her affair with Bessie Smith's husband, Jack Gee. Saunders was the antithesis of Bessie Smith, their personalities and looks contrasted sharply. In the 1930s Gertrude stated that she was the one true originator of "Boop Oop a Doop" which was featured in several newspapers where she decided to take credit for the scat singing sensation, as it had came out that the scat style of singing had originated in black nightclubs in Harlem. Although in several African-American newspapers from 1934-1950 Saunders is officially credited as the originator of "Boop-Boop-a-Doop". According to Saunders she first "Booped" in 1921, in 1928 an 8 year old Esther Jones only just started to "scat sing" which would have made Jones only 2 years old in 1921, which would make Gertrude Saunders the true originator of scat the baby scat singing style which she first used in the musical Shuffle Along. Quotes *Gertrude Saunders: "Nudity is all right if you have something to show. My role in Red Hot Mama suits me to a 'T'. I love it." (The Pittsburgh Courier, 1928) Gertie Held Up! (1927) In 1927 Gertie was assaulted by three men at Sixteenth and Lombard streets and robbed of $240 in addition to being severely beaten. Police later arrested three men on Miss Saunders identification. It was known that she was reveiving a large salary and that she had been wearing many valuable rings. Following the close of the performance Miss Saunders left to walk to the Douglass Hotel, where she was a guest. Two men jumped from a slowly moving motor and struck Miss Saunders in the jaw and stomach. As she fell, they grabbed her purse and jumped into the car. The little singer, who is noted for her aggressiveness crawled to her feet and as her head cleared saw the automobile moving away. She ran after it and when she turned two men tried to stop her, but she broke loose from them with the sleeve of her coat being torn in the tussle. When a cop appeared Miss Saunders preferred charges against the driver, then in the crowd she saw two of the men who had grabbed her and pointed them out and they were taken into custody. The Original Boop-Boop-a-Doop Girl In late October 1934 Gertrude was dubbed "The Original Boop-Boop-a-Doop Girl." And was dubbed originator of "Boop-Boop-a-Doop". According to information given when Gertie used to appear in an all-black Broadway show in the early 1920s (Shuffle Along) she ended with her number "Daddy Won't You Please Come Home," ending the entire scat chorus in baby talk. In a 1938 Afro-American newspaper it was declared that Gertrude debuted at the Cotton Club and that she was figured prominently at the $250,000 Infringement Lawsuit of Helen Kane and Betty Boop who both claimed they originated the funny twist which was a radio rage. Gertrude declared that it was "she" who had created "Boop-Boop-a-Doop" long before Betty Boop and Helen Kane. In another 1938 article it claims that Gertrude started "Boop Poop-a-Dooping" before either of them and prior to coming to the Negro Unit of Federal Theatres Project, she was a feature attraction at the Hollywood and Kit-Kat nite clubs. Big Timers (1945) Gertrude makes an appearance in the 1945 musical Big Timers where she sings Bessie Smith's 1928 hit song "Yes Indeed He Do". While singing Gertrude makes funny faces (something Baby Esther Jones used to do in her cabaret shows,) rolls her eyes and starts scat singing, while scatting she avoids using "Boop-Boop-a-Doop" and instead uses "Tweet-Tweet-Tweet" and "Twa-Twa-Twa," among several other scat sounds and trills. Death *Gertrude died in Beverly Massachusetts in 1991. Gallery Black Betty Boop Gertrude Saunders aka Baby Esther.jpg Gertrude saunders conceded to be the originator of boop helen kane.png Gertrude claims to have originated boop boop a doop cotton club.png Gertrude Saunders Thugs 1927.jpg Pits 1939 gertrude saunders.png Black Betty Boop Gertrude Saunders aka Baby Esther.jpg Trivia *Gertrude was the opposite of Bessie Smith, said Ruby (Bessie's niece), making no secret of her disdain. "She had light skin and long curly good hair and a gorgeous figure, and she knew it. In fact, she thought her poop didn't stink." *In Gertrude's earlier career she was never really that good of a singer and used to sing in a loud high-pitched wailing voice, and more or less relied on how she looked. *Gertrude later toned down the pitch of her voice in her routines, sounding somewhat similar to her rival Bessie Smith. *Gertrude was last referenced in June 1950 as originator of "Boop da Doop" made famous by Helen Kane. *There is no solid proof to back Gertrude's claim of being the black gal headlined in the lawsuit, apart from her stating that the $250,000 Infringement Lawsuit was about her. Not to mention that Baby Esther was only 8 years old in 1928. *Gertrude Saunders was recognized at an event sponsored by the Negro Actors Guild of America, with fellow entertainers Josephine Baker, Eubie Blake, and Noble Sissle. *In the 2015 Bessie Smith TV Movie, Gertrude was portrayed by actress Chantelle Rose. See Also *Negro Booper (1938) *Gertrude Saunders Gets A Break (1939) Category:People